Celebrating 200 years of maritime law

To mark our bicentenary in maritime legal practice, lawyers from our marine, trade and aviation team have produced a special publication bringing together a series of articles exploring some of the firm’s seminal cases across the last two centuries, which have left a lasting mark on global trade and shipping.

When Admiralty Proctor Thomas Cooper, then aged just 23, established his dedicated legal practice in London’s Bedford Row before moving to Lincoln’s Inn in 1825, he laid the foundations for generations of shipping lawyers and what has become one of the world’s leading shipping law firms.

As we embark on our third century of maritime law, it is a fitting moment to consider some of the most significant matters in which we have been involved. Spanning 200 years of conflict, commerce, catastrophe and ingenuity, they reflect the evolution of an industry continually shaped by economic, political and technological change.

Shipping knowledge lawyer Chris Ward collaborated with partners across our shipping team to produce this series of articles examining notable disputes and decisions from different eras. They range from a landmark House of Lords judgment in the nineteenth century and a significant collision case heard during Thomas Cooper’s centenary year in 1925, to high-value Commercial Court proceedings arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Now  complied into a commemorative book, the stories offer a fascinating insight into both the development of maritime law and our firm’s contribution to it. They stand as a testament to the expertise, dedication and innovation of our maritime specialists over the past 200 years, while highlighting the many forces that continue to shape the industry today.

A remarkable book…Its look back through the annals takes us not only through the firm’s achievements. It is also a potted history of English maritime law.

Jonathan Elvey, President, The London Maritime Arbitrators Association